SAN DIEGO — Taylor Lautner is ready to abduct the title of Hollywood’s resident action star when “Abduction” hits theaters September 23, but he didn’t get there without a little inspiration from some of the genre’s greatest actors.

[ video unavailable on this device ]

When MTV caught up with the “Twilight Saga” star at Comic-Con 2011 this week, he revealed that he did more than admire the top action actors: He studied them. Considering “Abduction” is being described along the lines of the “Bourne” movies and “Minority Report,” it makes sense that Tom Cruise and Matt Damon are among Lautner’s biggest role models.

“I studied film with John Singleton while preparing for the movie, and I chose Tom Cruise, Matt Damon, Denzel Washington, Harrison Ford; we just went down the list,” Lautner explained. “It would be an honor to have a tenth the career that those guys have.”

Having spent so much time watching the movies, Lautner said he sometimes found himself copying their moves during his takes. It took him time to take a step back and figure out how to tailor — or “Taylor” — their concepts to his own acting style.

He got a chance to meet Cruise while filming a promo for the 2010 MTV Movie Awards, and though their work together wasn’t action-oriented, Lautner said working with the “Mission: Impossible” actor was “surreal.”

But was he able to hold it together around his idol? “I definitely played it cool,” Lautner said with a laugh. “It was hard.”